Every Dead Has Its Day

What is it about the irreverence and humor with which Death is portrayed for The Day of the Dead that makes the way we, in mainstream America, cope with death seem so frightened and unhealthy? Should we laugh in the face of death? Well, not so much laugh at it, as invite it into our homes and to walk for a few days on our Earth, all the while poking fun at the foibles of its nonlivingness. Couldn't hurt right? To let loose with a little open gentle mockery of the inevitable. Death wins in the end anyway, why not, instead of being cowed, revel a bit in schadenfreude at its expense?



All photos were taken at the opening of the Día de los muertos exhibit at the National Museum of Mexican Art.

The Tame Death

I have a darkly lit image of a man in a bed surrounded by shadowy figures. Slowly each figure fades away pulling parts of the bed away, or they are attached to their own clothes. The stripping away leaves the man on a metal frame with no support for his back. As he begins to fall through the metal grid the lights brighten, he falls to the ground as the lights become blinding. He is handed a mop, but there is no water and no dirt. He turns to the audience and says "Hello?" His voice echoes as the lights fade.

Opening statement of the historical performance of death

The Chaos of death disturbs the peace of the living.